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IN THE RED YEARS 



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.^i7i/ 



IN THE RED YEARS 



A Book of Verse 



GERVE BARONTI 




BOSTON 

The Four Seas Company 
1917 



^l^rji^l^ 



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Copyright, ipi/, by 
The Four Seas Company 



JAN 28 19i8 



The Four Seas Press 
Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



©CI,A4S16?2 ^' 



CONTENTS 

The Red Laugh 9 

Chains 10 

Worshippers 12 

To THE Idealist 14 

How I Love 15 

The Coward 17 

Echoes 18 

Three Amulets 20 

The Searcher 23 

To A. C. S 26 

The Storm 27 

Waiting 30 

The Yellow Room 32 

Triad 34 

Dream Isles 35 

Good-bye, Sweet Child 36 

Before a Nude 37 

Brown Eyes 38 

Petals 39 

Passion Flowers 40 

Morning Song 41 

A Bear Fact 42 

To Natalie , 43 

The Play 44 

The Call 45 

Goddess Neith 46 

Sketches 49 

Awakened 64 



IN THE RED YEARS 



THE RED LAUGH 

Arch friend of all dark worlds that be 
Whose poisoned breath blows scorching o'er 

Fair lands of late prosperity 
Deep irrigated now with gore. 

You call our strong, who hear the cry, 
And join your wretched, bloody play. 

A grimy rag you wave on high 

And madly lead them on the way. 

Their hearts are closed, their reason gone, 
Through reddened mist they cannot see ; 

They groping, stumble wildly on 
Engaged in vile absurdity. 

You call the game, each takes his stand, 
The prizes differ with your mood. 

Some drag a leg, an arm, a hand 
Of modeled wax or clever wood. 

Move follows move, one side must flee. 
With blood-drunk lust its losses tell; 

Your mocking laugh is raised in glee. 
The sound reverberates in hell ! 
[9] 



CHAINS 

The metallic dirge 
Strikes on the ear of night 
Soul-paralyzing ! 

Dreaded, mysterious, demon-wrought! 
Clank clank clank 
Rattle rattle rattle 
It slides and slips 
Thump thump thump 
The accompaniment of the iron ball. 
The hell-forged iron ball. 
Clank clank clank 
On goes the weird air, 
Rattle rattle rattle- 
Pause drag drag — — 
Drag fainter, fainter — 
Rattle rattle rattle 
Pause. 

Hollow monotonous — 
Dying away, away — 
Fainter fainter 
Drag, pause 
Ceasing 

Rattle again, rattle — rattle 
Clank clank 
Drag 

[lo] 



Rattle- 
Pause — 
Rattle- 
Throughout the night. 

It will cease with the dawn — 

The clanking — 

The dragging — 

The chainy death rattle — 

The metallic death rattle — 

For it is a dirge of the night, 

The night that is long. 

Dawn will bring peace, rest, liberation- 
But the dawn is not yet — 
Not yet — 



[II] 



WORSHIPPERS 

Stone upon stone 
Forms the edifice. 
Imprisoned here and there 
Between the stones 
Are patches of color. 

Fools! You can't catch the soul-stuff 
Of the red, green and violet 
That glowed at you first 
Across the dull nothingness. 

Inside the edifice 

The husks are waiting. 

The husks with the dead interiors, 

Waiting for the one husk 

That is placed before a ribbed object 

To evoke its turbulent life 

And disturb the calm. 

What sounds does it hold, 

The ribbed object. 

Under its bone-dry ribs? 

Does it hold a sound of joy. 

Of love, of mirth, of pity, of fury. 

Of anything that is outside the edifice? 

[12] 



Does it hold the sound 
Of the flowers bursting into life? 
Does it hold the sound 
Of the trees rocking the birds to sleep? 
Does it hold the sound 

Of the forest king's warning to all lesser life? 
Does it hold the sound 

Of the winter ocean striking the wall of the 
ice-berg ? 

Does it hold any sound that is real. 
Any sound that is a natural sound? 
Does it hold one note of truth? 
No : — Truth is outside the edifice — 
Where the husks should be ! 

One husk is standing 

Facing the others 

With its arms extended. 

Listen: with its mechanical voice 

It is consecrating all the other husks 

To God. 



[13] 



TO THE IDEALIST 

Oh, You who peace and love extol, 
Know you the complex wilful soul ! 

The fight to make red hate expire, 

The wish to throttle mean desire, 

The greed that comes from love of wealth, 

The chase of pleasures marring health. 

The lust that oft desires to kill, 

The leash too weak to rein in will. 

The voice that heralds others' shame, 

The trick to tarnish a fair name, 

The days that haply take the best. 

The nights that laugh at day's behest. 

The hours when life seems fashioned good. 

The moments jeering at this mood. 

The hope that when these storms are past 

The clear white light will shine at last. 



[14] 



HOW I LOVE— 

The wild deep- furrowed face of nature 

When her expression is tempestuous and severe, 

The wind blowing in high places, 

The mad in-rushing dash of the sea 

When it leaps to fiercely embrace the shore, 

The cold salty spray that strikes my face like a whip, 

The startled scream of the wild birds. 

The snarling growl of the animals — my brothers, 

The hot white heat of the noon sun, 

The dark jewelled sky of midnight. 

The free defiant laughing cataract, 

The great first places that man has not spoiled, 

The fresh-scented earth upturned by the plough. 

The oozy slimy mud in the bed of the brook, 

The crawling Squirming creatures who inhabit it. 



The City at night when every one is sleeping. 

The paean of the rain outside my window, 

The men who dare to be honest with women. 

The men with the gift of silence, 

All who have learned the great lesson of tolerance. 

Virtue that carries no placard, 

Vice that is stalwart, courageous, and ambitious, 

All these I love. 

[15] 



And I hate 

The coward who links arms with regret, 

The weakling who leans on atonement, 

The weak-kneed charity of the ultra-respectable, 

The sterilized vice of the hypocrite, 

All who obey too easily. 



[i6] 



THE COWARD 

I cannot follow where you lead, 

O man of science deep; 
At your cold feast I dare not feed, 

Because I wish to keep 
The thought of God. 

I cannot list your pregnant speech. 
Your arguments profound. 

The proven facts you hope to teach. 
For to my soul is bound 
The fear of God. 

I cannot glance your written page 

So radical and bold, 
These arts you've used in every age: 

Still in my heart I hold 
The love of God. 



[17] 



ECHOES 

I see a field of golden rye 
As the red sun forsakes the sky. 
The fruited heads upon their stem 
Nod as the wind blows over them. 

Southward, and to the right, is seen, 
Beyond that stretch of waving green, 
The empty house of ancient style. 
Of mouldering brick and rain-washed tile. 

Beneath its vines of rank decay. 
Its rust-gnawn shutters fall away. 
Old house, I worship you again. 
You were my haunted castle — then. 

Inside, but not for children's sight, 
The fairy queen once came at night. 
She brought with her a merry band 
Of all good fairies in the land. 
Throughout the night they'd dance and sing 
To instrument like violin. 
To bed we'd go to wake at dawn 
And watch them leave in early morn. 
But strange, they always stole away 
And never came to dance by day. 
[i8] 



This olive shade I cannot pass, 
'Twas here I loitered in the grass 
And gazed intently at the blue 
And wondered long if God were true, 
And if one angel from the crowd 
Might fly quite low beneath a cloud. 

Yon crescent-shaped, lazy sea, 
To think of all you meant to me ! 
Far down beneath your depths so green 
The mermaid's crystal home was seen. 
In cradle shells all pearly lined 
The lovely mermaid babes reclined. 
If one could dive down very deep, 
Into the palace he might creep. 
At night the sea would gently moan 
With echoes from that hidden home. 
And on the beach the goat-bells toll, 
Timed with the fisher's barcarolle. 

And now I gaze familiarly 
On this fair land and placid sea, 
Whose beauty is enhanced; and yet, 
Somehow I see them with regret. 



[19] 



THREE AMULETS 

And a tale is told by the desert men 

Of a certain Sheik who came once again, 

With luminous eyes and bold, 
How he brought the gift, one amulet more, 
And away to his desert home he bore 

The creature of white and gold. 



She sat gazing out on the burning sand. 
And dreamed of a Sheik in that pagan land. 

Who'd call at the edge of the night, 
With his final gift, an amulet rare. 
And asked for the maid with the sunny hair 

Whom he meant to purchase right. 

Two gifts he had left with never a word 
And if she accepted — then with the third 

He would claim the maiden's hand ; 
And bear her away to his tribal place 
As chief of his wives for a certain space 

In that languid, sun-washed land. 

The tale is as old as the desert clan: 
How the wooing is done by the Arab man 
When he offers giits, just three, 

[20] 



In silence : and then with a haughty mien 
He later returns to take his queen 
With the tribe formality. 

She looked at the amulets — Horus' eyes, 
And she thought of her child's brief paradise 

With those other eyes of fire. 
She thought of her home, of her early Hfe, 
The struggles and cares and maddening strife, 

And then of her heart's desire — 

She thought of that step with compelling fate 
Just off to the left of the path that's straight. 

Taken blindly long ago. 
Life's flame had smouldered and flickered since then 
With each futile attempt to place again 

New hopes on its fading glow. 

And she thought of a home beyond the sea 
Far from expressions of sympathy 

That accused, while proff'ring cheer. 
For friends who would welcome, and never know 
That an aching soul was transplanted to grow 

Avv^ay from a constant fear. 

The shadows were lengthening along the sand 
That prelude the night in that mystic land, 

The west was a crimson flame — 
When out of the twilight as twice before 
In dusty haste to her flower-trimmed door 

A lone Arab rider came. 

[21] 



And the tale is told by the desert men 

Of a certain Sheik who came once again, 

With luminous eyes and bold, 
How he brought the gift, one amulet more, 
And away to his desert home he bore 

The creature of white and gold. 



[22] 



THE SEARCHER 

The old man knelt on the sand 

Before a pile of debris 

At which he clawed with wasted fingers. 

He was bent with the sorrows of many winters. 

On his wrists were the marks 

Left by the old manacles. 

But in his eyes shone the light of emancipation. 

He was very old — this searcher. 

Diligently and faithfully, 

He removed piece after piece, 

From the pile of debris. 

He examined each piece 

Before tossing it aside. 

When the last piece 

Had been removed from the pile, 

His eager eyes sought the sand beneath 

Which he pushed restlessly from side to side. 

Then taking into his hands 

Portions of the sand. 

He watched it slip through his fingers, 

And return to the pile. 

Long hours he kept to his task. 
For he knew that he would find them — 
The gems he sought. 
Others had passed the pile of debris, 
[23] 



And had kicked it gently, very gently, 

With the slight force 

That does not loosen — 

They had not stooped to examine, 

For into their eyes had not yet come 

The light of emancipation. 

From their hands had not yet fallen 

The manacles. 

The old searcher thought of the others, 

As he watched the sand 

Slip through his fingers. 

And he laughed sadly; 

And the sound was like the wind 

Blowing through hollow caves. 

The twilight was creeping up behind him 
Slowly; with noiseless tread. 
Soon it would be too dark 
To search in the sand. 

Then presently he felt the rough edges 
Of that which he sought, 
And knew it was a jewel. 
There must be other jewels. 
But it was now very dark, 
And he must wait for the light 
Of another day. 
Slowly and stiffly he rose 
From his kneeling posture. 
He glanced at the pieces of debris 
[24] 



Which he had thrown to one side 
As he uncovered the sand beneath 
Where the treasure was hidden. 

The others would pass in the morning, 

Would they see — dared he hope? 

If only they would see — the others. 

But into their eyes 

Had not yet come 

The light of emancipation. 

From their hands had not yet fallen, 

The manacles. 

He laughed again. 

That old hollow, broken laugh. 

A laugh that was the wailing echo 

Of all the misery in the world — 

A laugh far sadder than any tears — 

Tears might fall later — perhaps 

The bruised pearls of a benediction. 

Darkness was all about him. 

He turned and walked away 

From the scattered debris 

That made ghostly pictures 

In the gathering shadows. 

On he walked, thinking always of the others. 

On past the old swamp 

Where grew the beautiful purple lilies. 

That carried their roots far down 

Into the dark damp earth. 

[25] 



TO A. C. S, 

Oh thine eyes that saw the beauties, 
In the regions, where the soul. 

Flashing through the nights of darkness 
Found the daybreak of the whole ! 

Oh thine ears so loved by nature. 
That her poignant hands did seek, 

Soft to, brush with magic fingers, 
Till they heard the flowers speak. 

Oh thy lips that meekly opened 

For thy hidden song to flee 
And enrich the world forever, 

As it voiced the Christ in thee! 



[26] 



THE STORM 
[In collaboration with A. J. S.\ 

'Tis storm and tempest within the deep. 

The raging seas beat a fiercely rhythmic and throated 

music. 
No moment's calm assuages their torrential to-and-fro. 
Across uncharted space roll laboring waters keeping 

time with wandering winds. 
Their pilot is a fleet of waves shaped like a mighty 

myriad-branched tree stretched on the face of 

the deep. 
As the pilot hews onward through the rocking breakers 
Vapors from rebellious waters mount the silence-pin- 
nacled firmament and challenge the languid 

loneliness of space. 
Then as they rise higher some are choked by frigid 

currents. 
In panicky fright the clouds retreat on a long swift 

incline, 
Led by the enskied jewels of the night, 
The galaxy of moon and stars. 
When a vanguard of clouds rejoin their rightful 

element. 
The happy waters dance in the light of the skies. 
Adown the cataract of the air the rear-guard hurries 

in might-restrained chase, 
[27] 



For the enlivening communion of sea and cloud. 

The fruit of their union is turbulent unrest, 

The thrill of which each passes to the other, 

Until the branches of the piloting tree moan with re- 
bellion against the even tenor of their move- 
ment. 

Each spire of cloud and wave of water 

Communicates to the other the meaning of that unrest, 
which from itself it withholds. 

And now the mighty heart of the earth vibrates 

And the dark depths convulse with the terror of the 
Arch-destroyer. 

"We will shake and break the earth and sky-barriers 

That God has imposed on us 

When in a moment of forget fulness 

We winked away our vigil." 

So shouted the outlying waters; 

And in a shrill tone the branches of the moving tree 
whistled an answer. 

"We will break the barriers which Man, the haughty, 
earthly-heavenly child, has been allowed to 
fashion. 

He has spanned us in a bondage of bridges. 

And now in his unsated pride 

He plans to draw from us each atom of energy 

As he has drawn from his Mother Earth." 



With one huge effort, 

Echoing through the frame of the universe, 
[28] 



The trunk of the tree forced the unruly branches to be 

silent 
And to smite into silence the grumbling voices, 
And the sea was covered with foam caused by the 

haste of the vanquished. 

Then through vast space was audible a majestic voice: 

Man is heart of my heart and life of my life. 

He has assisted the melting of my sculptured icebergs, 

My own architectured pyramids. 

He has changed the course of my rivers. 

He has made the earth to articulate with seething life 

and triumphant labor. 
The earth, that branch, which in a cosmic catastrophy 

was torn from my body. 

It is I who urge him now to bridle the seas, 

To harness the winds. 

To scale space. 

To reclaim my lost planets. 

He lives for me, and I live in him. 



[29] 



WAITING 

I saw you in that Temple old 

Lead priestly train with slow advance, 
Your hands outstretched to Merodach, 

I dared not raise to you a glance. 

When in the greatest Pharaoh's troops 
I saw your mystic face again 

You laid a siege — but to my heart — 
And took me willing captive then. 

I still recall the buried day 

With memory I've carried o'er, 

Our home beneath the desert palm. 
Our life upon the Theban shore. 

While Athens with the laurel crown 
Paid homage to her mighty men, 

You watched with weary, sated mien 
Your happy dancing slave-girl then. 

With the masonic Socrates, 
If virtue be but Knowledge true 

You did discuss ; and failed to see 

The burning flame that leaped to you. 
[30] 



Across the Pincian Hills you gazed, 

As the immortal city passed 
With mournful dirge. Your vision cleared 

And saw your soul revealed at last. 

To the cathedral's lofty walls 

Your shaded pane, with note of rest, 
Came to admit the only light, 

The Christ-child at his mother's breast. 

Adown the isle the other day 

I saw your black-robed form advance, 

With eyes downcast and folded hands 
I dared not raise to you a glance 



[31] 



THE YELLOW ROOM 

I stand here alone 

Beneath her window. 

The wind scarcely breathes. 

The youthful spring sky 

Seems expressionless. 

Oh, for something to match my suffering! 

I followed Death 
Into the yellow room. 
I was too late. 

How this Spring landscape tortures, 
Serene and immature, 
As an unfolded bud. 

Oh, that yellow room! 
Pale jonquil-studded horror! 
Pale yellow everywhere; 
The walls, the floor, the hangings, 
The window-panes 
That caught the reflection 
Of the distant sun; 
The high draped bed 
That held the body,— 
Once the restless vehicle 
[32] 



Of her will. 
And I followed Death 
Into the yellow room, 
But I was too late. 

Oh, why did she not wait ! 
I would have told her 
Another way. 
Oh why, why, why 
Did she not wait! 
Poor pale yellow soul. 
Oh why did she not wait ! 
I would have told her 
Another way. 



[33] 



TRIAD 

Oh send me Pain, if it must be 

On torture's scroll my eyes shall see 

The story written there. 
My troubled soul still striving gropes 
Its way through darkness — seeking Hope's 

Answer to the prayer. 

Oh send me Love — if pain it be, 
If heartache and uncertainty 

Are fuel for the fire. 
Oh drain my life — 'tis not in vain 
If joy but faintly tinge the pain 

When this is Love's desire. 

Oh send me Death that I may see 
The beauty in the mystery 

When beaten hope has fled. 
For only light from flame divine 
Can feed this famished soul of mine 

When fire-bred love lies dead. 



[34] 



DREAM ISLES 

They are not found near coral reefs, 

Nor in far polar seas, 
Those magic isles the spirit knows, 

Those isles the spirit sees. 

No chart can show the waking eye, 

Nor to the mind unfold 
Where dark green waters gently lave 

Those shores of molten gold. 

No wandering breeze can bring to us 
The brilliant bird's soft note. 

That, to the spectre of a palm, 
Breathes from its mellow throat. 



[35] 



GOOD-BYE, SWEET CHILD 

The jonquil gave her golden glint 

To gild your silken hair, 
The purple iris, for your eyes 

Bequeathed her color rare, 
The lily on your velvet cheek 

Her petal white uncurled. 
Sweet flow'r, you were too fair to bloom 

In the, garden of the world. 



[36] 



BEFORE A NUDE 

Rare skill hath drawn o'er hidden fires, 
And made this wondrous form to glow. 

So deftly clothed, it peace inspires. 
Yes, nude thou art, but naked — no ! 



[37] 



BROWN EYES 

Sweet eyes of brown, 
Dear eyes that saw the temple built 
And watched the pyramids arise 

Were just such eyes. 

Sweet eyes of brown, 
Blest eyes that from the manger gazed, 
With ardent fire of high emprise, 

Were just such eyes. 

Sweet eyes of brown, 
Faith's eyes that knew the marble cold 
Could glow with life so magic-wise, 

Were just such eyes. 

Sweet eyes of brown, 
Hope's eyes that looked while canvas dim 
Took color for our late surprise. 

Were just such eyes. 

Sweet eyes of brown, 
Love's eyes the soul is leaning through 
To catch the light as mine replies, 
Are just such eyes. 

(38] 



PETALS 

We crush the petals in our hands, 

Those of the vivid hue, 
For fields are green, and life is young, 

Behold, the sky is blue ! 

The petals flutter from our hands. 
So brown and sere they fall ; 

For fields are bare and sky o'ercast. 
Just withered petals, — all. 



[39] 



PASSION FLOWERS 

Sweet passion flowers at my feet in the grass, 
By the amorous south wind fanned, 

Your fragrance is wafted to me as I pass, 
Why take you to die in my hand ? 

Fair earth-stars designed by a Hand which is sure. 

You beacon; are we to contemn? 
Your roots are concealed — more the colors allure. 

Sweet blossoms — just die on the stem! 



[40] 



MORNING SONG 

Stretched 'neath a tree on your moss-trimmed mantle, 
Watching the sun come out of the sea, 
Feeling your deep heart beneath mine throbbing, 
Mother, I come to thee. 

Listening the leaves' low gentle humming 
Attuned to the wind's rare melody 
Taken from over the mystic border — 
Mother, to sing to thee. 

Violet, yellow, and crimson blossoms 
Have massed themselves in your soft green hair; 
And dew has emptied her jewel casket — 
Mother, oh thou art fair! 



[41] 



A BEAR FACT 

Suggested by Georges Musaphia's painting of nude 
and bear. 
On a planet of topaz and crystal, 

Where ice-elves and fairies abound, 
Where suns' rays are filtered through gossamer, 
The girl of my dreams I have found. 

She bewilders, entices and beckons, 
I watch her enraptured, soul- freed. 

While the amber light's gentle caresses 
Race round her soft limbs and recede. 

The ambrosial hills' matchless beauty 
Brushed o'er by her flame-colored hair, 

Is a feast for the gods delectation. 
And only enjoyed by a bear. 



[42] 



TO NATALIE 

Sweet maiden with the long deep eyes, 
How came you with us now? 
We see those eyes in Nephthys' face 
Below the narrow brow. 



[43] 



THE PLAY 

First Shade... Are you going in to see the play? 

Second Shade . , . Yes, wait while I check my soul. 

First Shade ... I will keep mine. 

Second Shade . . . You won't need it. 

First Shade . . . Do you know the playwright? 

Second Shade. . .Yes, he is late of the earth. 

First Shade. . .What is the piece, comedy or tragedy? 

Second Shade . . . Travesty. 

First Shade . . . And he calls it — 

Second Shade . , . Love. 



[44] 



THE CALL 

The helpless are calling to me. 
Their voices are raised in despair. 
Their hands are extended in anguish. 
I must pass on. 

The hopeful are singing to me. 
Their voices are raised in gladness. 
Their hands are extended in blessings. 
I can pass on. 

I hear the call of the helpless, 
O God, allow me to linger ! 



[45] 



GODDESS NEITH 

["Goddess Neith" is a friend who has the love and 
knowledge of Egyptology.] 

Fair Goddess Neith, who dost explore 

Immortal Egypt's hidden lore, — - 
The art She buried deep in sand 

To wait for thy resourceful hand 
To find again and bring to light 

And teach the West Her ancient might. 

Her luxury of pagan mold, 

Her treasures vast, and darkened gold. 
Her script which shows to eyes like thine 

Her steady march to heights sublime. 
Her scarabs rare, most lovingly 

She set aside and marked for thee. 

Dost think Her moon is on the wane? 

Dost fear She will not shine again? 
And hasten late Her steps to stay 

From oblivion's woeful day? 
O Goddess, heed this certainty: 

She cannot pass. She lives in thee. 



[46] 



SKETCHES 



Old earth reels and sways 

And wheels and whirls 

To the Mirth-mad time: 

For in the nether spaces 

The blue flame roars and hisses 

The music of the dance. 



[49] 



The moon's gold has changed 

To palest silver, 

A stretch of smoky amber 

Flings itself 

Along the east. 

Fresh morning breeze 

Hurries from the hills 

To strip the night garment 

From the drowsy sea. 

The trees have turned their heads 

To watch the sun get up. 

The amber stretch 

Is now a field of gold 

Grown over 

With great fleecy flowers. 

The waves have put white ruffles on 

And dance along the beach. 



[50] 



The snow and rain 

Caress and soothe, 

But the wind 

Saddens, — 

It is the deep rumbhng 

Earth-echo 

Of all the gods' despair. 



[51] 



Dear little pool 
Left when the rain retired; 
How gently the old apple tree 
Showers on you scented snow; 
You are so small, and yet, 
You hold the moon and stars. 



[52] 



See the landscape 
Done in crystal ! 
Nature holds 
A pallette strewn 
With diamond dust 
While she paints 
Fairyland. 



[53] 



Sweet white rose sprinkled with the dew, 
How well you play your part! 

For who would dream on seeing you 
That canker eats your heart. 



[54] 



How lovely these trees are 

At all times. 

In the Winter 

When they stretch their nude arms to Heaven 

Like daring wantons. 

And beg the frost-king for his crystal jewels. 

In the Spring, 

Clothed in the first green dress 

So faintly perfumed 

And trimmed with buds. 

Later when the Summer guests arrive 

And all is music and merry-making, 

How lovely then 

In their costume of firmer texture 

And deeper dye. 

But in the fall. 

Arrayed in red and gold 

And spangled with ripened fruit 

Like giant rubies, 

'Tis then that Heaven 

Throws between Itself and them. 

That smoky, hazy Autumn veil 

Lest their beauty be too dazzling. 



[55] 



Beneath the low, dark clouds 

The sea is angry. 

It roars in frenzy; 

Raging billows 

Lash the defenseless beach. 

Not a sail is seen. 

None could live. 

Far out 

One rock stands firm 

Amidst the tumult. 

It looks Heavenward 

And awaits the later victory — 

The reward of calm. 



[56] 



How beautifully this field 

Wears these daisies ! 

Nature's lovely selection 

For a brown and green costume. 

The birds and butterflies 

Pause here 

Lost in admiration, 

While the gentle south wind 

Plays with the white and gold 

Bouquet. 



[57] 



Hear the rumble 

Of Heaven's drum! 

The wind has paused to listen. 

Winding down the valley 

The green cascade 

Of silent trees 

Awaits the battle. 

The snowy billows 

Of the distant mountain range 

Hurl themselves on a purple sea. 

Nearer sounds the drum. 

The apprehensive wind 

Begins to grieve, 

The green cascade 

Sways and groans. 

The coming torch 

Flashes at intervals 

Against the inky blackness. 

The drum sounds nearer, nearer- 

Hear its dreaded challenge 

So faintly answered 

By the frightened hills ! 

How puny seems Earth's wrath 

When Heaven is angry ! 



[58] 



A dense, dark pall drapes the Autumn sky 

In premature mourning; 

Below on Earth's charred altar 

Piny incense is placed 

As a last sad rite 

By the passing forest. 



[59] 



What pictures! 
Giant birds 
With wings of 
Burnished copper, 
Smiling women 
Waving filmy veils, 
Ruined castles, 
Dense forests, 
Snow-clothed mountains, 
Oceans of indigo 
And deepest green. 
All seen through the rain 
Of golden sun-beams 
This evening. 



[60] 



Twilight trails her purple veil 

Across the valley city. 

From behind a distant mountain 

The sun waves a last 

Good-night. 

The gentle sighing whispers 

Of pines' far-reaching heads 

Meet and mingle 

With voices of the undergrowth. 

The sky has donned her evening dress, 

And fastened on her jewels 

One by one. 

From somewhere in the forest's heart 

A lone night bird 

Speeds departing day. 



[6i] 



crystal-studded winter night, 

Thou'st tranced my mind in vague delight. 

1 wonder if all things as rare, 

As marvelously bright and fair, 
Would prove on near approach to be 
As hard and cold and chaste as thee ! 



[62] 



Thou brazen, glittering wanton of the world, 
Flinging at length thy nude sensuous body 
Under the full white staring gaze of the sun. 

Thy Paramour; 
Thou disdainest the green garment of grass or plant, 
Thou refusest to drink of the cool singing streams, 
Thou parched defiant mysterious beauty, 

Sahara. 



[63] 



AWAKENED 

I stood in the outer space 
Just beyond the threshold. 
The sun held back the light, — 
Only the moon shone mistily. 
There, to the lament of chaos, 
I added my tears. 

A song reached me from beyond, 
With echoes of sweet offering. 
A breeze wafted the kiss 
Of the sun-warmed 
Swaying wind-flowers. 

I reached my hands 

To release, and music, and sunshine. 

One step to the threshold — and over- 

To life, to hope and to freedom! 

But the sun held back the light. 

And only the moon shone 

Mistily. 

Love, the light is falling around me 

That dawn paints 

On the face of the Ocean. 

The step to the threshold is lighted, 

The step to the threshold — and over- 

Where the sun-warmed 

Swaying wind-flowers 

Nod to the voice of the River. 

Love, I awake, I awake 

And to life, to hope, and to freedom 

I add the birth of my laughter. 

[64] 
H 491 85 . 



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